Going into 2005, Mandrakesoft is a company that has gone against everything that was predicted. It has survived the dot-com bust, become profitable and continues to frown on the idea of moving away from Free and Open Source Software development in favor of the proprietary approach advocated by many of the newer GNU/Linux distribution developers. To catch up on the changes since their last full interview, Mandrakesoft co-founder Gaël Duval recently agreed to talk with OFB's editor-in-chief, Timothy R. Butler, about where the company is heading and the state of the industry at the present time.
Broadband ISP Speakeasy said it will offer its subscribers a version of the Mozilla Foundation's Firefox Web browser in hopes of appealing to a more tech-savvy crowd.
Sun Microsystems, Inc. [NASDAQ: SUNW] today announced the largest single release of patent innovations into the open source community by any organization to date, marking a significant shift in the way Sun positions its intellectual property portfolio. By giving open source developers free access to Sun OpenSolaris related patents under the Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL), the company is fostering open innovation and establishing a leadership role in the framework of a patent commons that will be recognized across the globe.
UPDATED. According to live coverage of MacWorld in San Francisco by Mac enthusiast sites as well as official Apple information, three of the most pervasive Mac rumors in recent weeks will come true and soon. In his keynote speech today, Jobs announced the company's new office suite, low-cost Macintosh and USB key iPod would be available on January 22.
Tim's personal blog, asisaid.com, has died. Until it returns, this OfB post will serve as a way to leave comments regarding the announcement of the blog's death. This article will be deleted after the blog returns to the world of the living… hopefully later today, but maybe not.
Zinside (with the appropriate slogan “the Zen side of computing”) announces the debut of the Zen Box server, a 100% open source alternative to Microsoft Exchange© and Lotus Domino©. The French company uses an accessible and revolutionary approach to the server industry, which is frequently considered as too technical and is often dreaded by end users.
The Kuro Box promises something fairly interesting: a usable single-board PowerPC computer, for only US$160 — when other PowerPC development boards often cost ten times as much.
With just a short time before Christmas, you may be wondering what little stocking stuffer you can get for your technically obsessed co-worker, computer savvy boss or geeky family member. It is not too late to pick out a gift that will stay out of the closet of useless gifts after the party's over. OfB's Timothy R. Butler looks at five great gift ideas below.
Perhaps in the long term, the MSN Music Store will come to overshadow Apple's iTunes Music Store. But even if it does, Apple already made it's mark on the industry. Many analysts compare today's music battle with Microsoft's war against the Netscape Web browser, which was seen as a challenge to Windows. Microsoft feared that software engineers would gravitate to developing applications on Netscape, thus circumventing Windows. The same possibility with iTunes is throwing a shadow over Microsoft's media hub plans for Windows.